Parents are expressing concerns after multiple students at Greenville Independent School District’s Travis Intermediate School allegedly tattooed each other using the same needle during class. One parent, Ashley Armstrong, reported that her 11-year-old son, Jordan, was tattooed with designs reading “I heart my lord” and “JC” on his arms and hands. Armstrong has since sought medical testing for her son after learning that the same needle was used on several students.
Armstrong, who confirmed that her son was punished for the incident, questioned how such activities could go unnoticed by teachers. “How is it that these kids are getting tattoos in class and not one teacher noticed?” she said.
On Tuesday, Armstrong received a call from the school nurse, instructing her to have lab work done on her son immediately. The Greenville ISD responded on Thursday, confirming that the tattooing occurred at school. In a statement released on social media, the district revealed that “teachers assigned to the classrooms where the incident allegedly occurred have been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation.” The district also stated that students had used temporary ink and shared the same needle to give each other tattoos.
The incident is under investigation, with the district working with law enforcement to identify all students involved. Armstrong’s son told her that a fellow student approached him and performed the tattoo in the classroom, with teachers present. Armstrong expressed concern over the repeated sharing of the needle between different students across multiple classrooms. “The needle was shared several times, from one class to another class to another class,” she said, emphasizing that the issue was not just about the temporary nature of the ink but about the unsanitary use of the same needle.
Although tests for infectious diseases have come back negative, Armstrong is still concerned about the potential for long-term health effects and plans to follow up with her doctor next week as a precaution. “This could affect him. Seriously affect him,” Armstrong said. She added that more than a dozen other parents have reached out to her, claiming that their children were also tattooed during the incident.
The district has not disclosed the number of students involved or how the tattoo needle made its way into the school. It also declined to comment on the specific number of teachers suspended or whether they were aware that tattooing was taking place in their classrooms.
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